Assaulted cabbie awaiting his day in court

A cab driver assaulted by a passenger earlier this month continues to heal while his alleged attacker has still not been served with the warrants taken out for his arrest.

TABITHA CLARK and AMANDA WILCOX - Daily News Staff

SURF CITY — A cab driver assaulted by a passenger earlier this month continues to heal while his alleged attacker has still not been served with the warrants taken out for his arrest.

Charles Hawkesworth Jr. was driving a cab in the early morning hours of Sept. 9 when he was brutally beaten in an attack that left Hawkesworth facing reconstructive surgery.

He had two titanium plates inserted into his cheekbone and under his eye socket on Sept. 13. He returns to the doctor in October, and if nothing has shifted or moved, he won’t need any further surgical procedures.

His alleged attacker, Gunnery Sgt. John Adam Kinosh, is being charged with assault to inflict serious bodily injury, a felony, and communicating threats, a misdemeanor. His warrants have still not been served, a delay initiated when Kinosh checked himself into a mental health treatment facility.

At this point, Hawkesworth said he would like to see the case go to court and for justice to be served.

“You can’t expect to do something like this and just get off scot-free,” Hawkesworth said Thursday. “That’s not what Marines are for — they are here to protect us, not beat us.”

The cab driver has viewed the full-length video of the attack against him four times now.

“As soon as he started screaming like that, and I was getting hit in the face with spit, I knew I was going to get hit,” he said. “But it was still a surprise.”

He believes the camera helped to identify the suspect and gave support to his story.

“I’m extremely glad there was a video camera,” he said. “I’m pretty sure things wouldn’t be going as good as they are for me otherwise. It would be the word of a cab driver against the word of a U.S. Marine.”

Many came to Hawkesworth’s aid following this incident to help with donations for medical expenses or even just well-wishes.

A weekend benefit was held at various Surf City sites last weekend, and others are in the works. Hawkesworth’s sister is hosting a bake sale Saturday starting at 9 a.m. in front of the CVS in Sneads Ferry to help raise money for his medical bills.

A Facebook page called Help Charles Hawkesworth, our Surf City Cabby is now filled with comments from people all over the globe who have seen the video and want to offer messages of hope to Hawkesworth during his time of healing.

“I’ve heard from people in Istanbul, different places in Japan…even all over Europe,” Hawkesworth said.

One of the latest posts is from Hawkesworth’s girlfriend, Brittany Schwartz, letting people know that there is a P.O. Box now available for those who want to send letters. Letters can be mailed to: Charles W. Hawkesworth Jr., P.O. Box 4245, Surf City, NC 28445. A crowdfunding site at gogetfunding.com/project/help-charles has raised more than $4,400 for Hawkesworth’s mounting medical bills.

However, another page that is less supportive has also sprung up in the wake of the attack. The Facebook page professes support of Kinosh, a MARSOC Marine, and his decision to assault the cab driver. MARSOC spokesman Maj. Jeff Landis said the office was aware of the page, but added that the page is “by no means an official representation of MARSOC, nor is it related to MARSOC in any way.”

“It is a personal Facebook page and therefore MARSOC has no affiliation nor control over that personal Facebook page,” Landis said.

The page administrators would not give The Daily News their names, but did say in a message that “a lot of what is being said on the page, in no way, shape, or form, reflects the opinions of the page creators, the Kinosh family, or anyone with morals.”

“Charles Hawkesworth we are sure is a good and decent man, as is Sgt Kinosh,” the anonymous administrators wrote in the message. “What happened on the night in question, may have had many outside factors that will never be known to us. Our main goal is to not have this turn into an unfair battle, that might tarnish a marines reputation, and disregard any loyal service and dedication he provided this brave nation with.”

Hawkesworth said he is aware of the page.

“I was a little upset when I saw that it was a support page,” he said. “But, then I had to shake my head and laugh. What little was on it at the time didn’t look very good for Kinosh.”

He said it appeared to be a site made by “Internet trolls.”

“If anyone wants to make a support page for someone, that is there right, and I can’t stop it,” he said. “That’s part of freedom of speech.”

Hawkesworth said he would like to continue driving a cab, but only if certain measures are met.

“If partitions are installed, I will go back to being a cab driver,” he said.

While he thinks partitions will hurt in the long run because of the distance it will put between cabbies and their passengers, he believes they are necessary to prevent an incident like his from happening again.

“I’d hate to lose that touch we have with the community,” he said, “but we have to think about ourselves.”

Contact Daily News Reporter Tabitha Clark at 910-219-8454 or Tabitha.Clark@jdnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @TabithaLClark or friend her on Facebook.

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